Posts Tagged "Thompson Brown House"

The Cades Cove Preservation Association is celebrating their 10th anniversary with a day long celebration at the Great Smoky Mountains Heritage Center in Townsend, TN, on Saturday October 22nd, from 10am to 4pm. The featured speaker is Dwight McCarter, a retired ranger from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Mountain Folk Reunion and Mountain Gap are providing the music. There will be door prizes every hour, horse and buggy rides, and old time toy demonstrations and games for the kids. You can get your photo taken with Cades Cove pioneers. For more information, contact Stephen Weber at sgw9309@earthlink.net .

The mission of the Cades Cove Preservation Association (CCPA) is to help preserve the heritage of Cades Cove located in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The majority of the members are descendants of the Cove and many were born and lived there as children. There are others, like Kathy and Dave Rudd, who have joined out of a love for the Cove. Non-natives, such as the Rudds, Kathy says, as she agreed to be interviewed, have been warmly embraced by those who have deep roots in the community. It’s an enjoyable group of those who work to preserve both their history and some of the early history of our nation.

A One on One Tour of the Thompson Brown House

Members participate in several events throughout the year to educate the public on the Cove’s history and share their experiences and memories of living there. Some members have published books. In addition to monthly meetings, they also have several ongoing projects during the year, such as maintaining the cemeteries, clearing trails to old home sites, etc. One project, in the summer of 2010, was cleaning up the Caughron barn that was destroyed by winds late last year to salvage the materials for the Park to use in restoring the other buildings of the Cove.

In Maryville, is the Thompson Brown House that houses many Cove artifacts and is staffed by CCPA members. My nephew and I stopped there recently and were warmly greeted by a volunteer who gave Kane a behind the scenes tour. Currently older descendants of the Cove are being interviewed, videotaped and recorded as a way to preserve their stories. My hat is off to those volunteering their time.

PS, I read one of Dwight McCarter’s books, Lost, several years ago. Since then I have never hiked without a whistle. Furthermore, my guests hike with whistles. Period. If you are too macho to wear a whistle, I send you to Pigeon Forge to shop instead of giving you an overview and map of trails in the Park. After a day in Pigeon Forge, you will happily wear a whistle. Over time, I have populated the entire eastern seaboard with at least a gross of Wal-Mart whistles that my guests have taken home in their glove boxes, dreaming of orange and yellow leaves against the blue skies, rivers and mountains of the Smokies. Blessings, mizkathleen@ Gracehill Bed and Breakfast

In 2008, shortly after the economy tanked, again, I was trying to think of an activity I could do with my nephew, age five, that was on the cheap. Decided to take him to Sam Houston Schoolhouse and Museum. While there, I found an out of print copy of the Blount County Historic Tour Guide that became our map on a three-year long odyssey. It shows 30+ stops depicting the history of Blount County. I have lived here for 25 years and had only been to four places on the list. Kane had been to the Little River Railroad Museum in Townsend with me two years earlier.

Sometimes it was more the journey than the destination. I used the word “map” loosely. The brochure designer had his heart in the right spot, but the dots showing the buildings could be off by a block or two or …. One day, with no address other than Big Springs Road, we tried to find the “Old Stone House”, the oldest house in the county, built in the late 1700’s. Never did locate it that day. Called the Visitor Center. They gave me some tips. Didn’t work out on the second try. Called the Historical Society. He made a call, and gave me some pointers. Nope. When we spent a morning at the Thompson Brown House getting a behind-the-scenes tour by a wonderfully accommodating woman, she gave me directions. She did a lot of hand waving to no effect. I am actually rather good at following a map, so after stopping at a gas station for further advice, and still coming up short, I did a U turn in the middle of the road and hopped out to talk to a Department of Transportation worker cutting grass on the right of way. He was clueless until I said this home had been in three states and a territory, North Carolina, the Lost State of Franklin, territory South of the River Ohio and our own lovely State of Tennessee. Bingo! “EVERYONE knows where THAT place is!” My suggestion is, when we pull out of the recession, maybe by 2020, the county pops for a marker.

I took Kane’s picture at each place but one. The Mead Haven/Cox House in Friendsville, had three very big dogs in the yard which was posted with some kind of electric doggie fence sign. I would open the car door, the dogs would stand up. I’d shut the car door, they sat down. Open the car door; put foot on ground, they advanced 50 feet. “Kane buddy,” I said, “time for your photo.” He shook his head. His momma didn’t raise no dummy. I bought a big piece of black foam core board and glued on the brochure and all our photos. Twenty-nine photos of Kane, and one of three very big dogs. We took the last tour today, Alcoa Aluminum Plant and the fountain they built for their workers in Springbrook Park. Actually talked about and saw the whole concept of a planned unit development. Many of the four-room houses are still standing with the original slate roofs from 80 years ago.

2011- TaDa! The Last Stop, Alcoa's Springbrook Park Fountain

I am a list person, and while it was wonderful to finish our journey before Kane enters college and I start collecting Medicare, it’s kind of sad. Where do we go from here? History tour of Knoxville? Washington D.C.? The pyramids? Scratch the pyramids. We came back to our Smoky Mountain Bed and Breakfast and practiced making potato pancakes with stir fried apples. We listened to the news about Egypt and Libya while he grated potatoes and stirred the apples in the pan. For eight years old, he has an amazing grasp of world events and a memory like a steel trap. Wonder who learned more? Maybe the question should be, who will remember more! mizkathleen@ Gracehill